The Beer Can Chicken Experiment Pt. 2

                Part II

Now on to part 2, since the first part I tried a couple of others. So I added one of them that I felt came out great. Now keep in mind as I have continually said in past posts, just because it cold out is no reason to put the grill away in storage. Use it all year, after all it is fire and last I checked fire beats snow and cold. Plus your neighbors will think you’re crazy, which is also fun. So here we go the next one. For this one I used 6 point Sweet Action which is a nice hearty cream ale that has some orange and honey notes with a mild bitterness. I thought that this would be a good spot to do one with a BBQ seasoning mix. It’s a really simple mix that you can use on just about anything from chicken to pork to beef.

 BBQ Seasoning Mix 

1/4 c. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. dark chili powder

1 Tbsp.  Paprika

1 tsp   smoked paprika

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp   onion powder

1 clove garlic minced

1 tsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp. salt

1 tsp black pepper

Mix everything together in a food processor and rub it all over the chicken. A side note here in regards to the tomato paste. One great tool or short cut is to get one of the tubes of tomato paste (they are similar to a toothpaste tube that you can find generally with your Italian/international aisle in most if not every grocery store) instead of getting a can. It’s a little more expensive but you don’t have leftover tomato paste in your fridge that you end up throwing out anyway. With the tube you can use as much or as little as you need, put the cap back on and it lasts for a good long time. Just don’t mistake it for your toothpaste, because that could be weird and pretty unpleasant.

Cooking instructions are on the first installment of this 2 parter. On to the next one which I used Arcadia Wit Sun but any Belgian Wit or “wheat beer” (look for lighter wheat beer with coriander and/or orange peel in them) will work. I used this one because of its availability to me. Other ones that can work well with this one are Bell’s Oberon, Avery White Rascal, Revolution Bottom up, or one from your local area that you like. For this I did something similar to a Coastal French/Provencal rub. Fresh herbs, garlic-type rub.

Herb Rub

¼ c. olive oil (The type is up to you)

3 cloves garlic minced

1 shallot minced

1/4 c. fresh thyme, chopped

¼ c. fresh Rosemary, chopped

¼ c. fresh oregano, chopped

½ c. fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

Juice and zest of ½ lemon

Salt and pepper

The best way to do this one to get everything chopped fine is in a food processor, rub the mix on the outside of the bird and use the same cooking instructions as the others.

This one is a late addition to my experiments and an easy one to boot. Not that the others were hard but for this one I kind of cheated and it came out great. For the final one, in the now 5 types, of beer can chicken I did a Harissa rubbed chicken. Harissa is a Chili paste used mainly in the Mediterranean coastal countries of Africa (Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, and Morocco mainly). You can make this spicy paste on your own or do as I did and purchase a pre-made one (the cheating part). You can find good Harissa at most Mediterranean or Middle Easter markets or in some better grocery stores. The beer I used for this was Oskar Blues Dale’s pale ale. The reason being that I wanted something with a decent hop presence for some nice flavor and aromas but not a high powered APA or IPA that could have over powered it. The procedure is for this is pretty simple, as are the others. Rub the outside with the Harissa and use my standard technique to cook it.

I hope everyone enjoyed this little bit of experimentation and craziness from me, you can expand upon my insanity by coming up with your own combos and such, just remember fails happen it’s not the end of the world, after all it’s just chicken and beer.

The Beer Can Chicken Experiment pt 1.

 In an earlier post I did I mentioned that I was toying around with beer can chicken. With the diversity and variety of canned beers now, especially in the craft beer world, I thought it would be fun to do a few different “experiments” with it. This will be split up into 2 parts for a couple of reasons, one being that it would be a horribly long post, and the second is I want to give you all of my thoughts on how and why I came up with what I did in enough detail so it’s easy for you, and with the start of football season and tailgating season these could be a welcomed addition to your pregame fare.

 The traditional beer can chicken is basically a can of shit beer shoved into the cavity of a whole chicken with minimal seasonings with maybe the exception of BBQ sauce or some salt and pepper. There are slight variations here and there, but nothing to die for. I looked at this like a challenge to make it better, like Steve Austin (The Six Million Dollar Man, not the wrestler. You’ll get the reference if you are 35 or older if not then Google it kiddies, then it will make sense.). I decided that I wanted to a few versions to see what I liked best and I narrowed it down to 4 for our purposes here.  What I did first was find beer that I could work with to make something out of the norm as far as cooking with beer first. I do also realize I can dump any beer into an empty soda or beer can but where’s the challenge or fun in that? Then I got the gears turning on how I was going to do to the chicken. Based on the beer that I purchased. These days’ singles are easy to find at any wine/beer/liquor store. With the base of the meals being chicken I wanted to keep the beers relatively chicken friendly. So these are the 4 beers that I used and before you go into beer snobbery and/or judge me (that’s my job right?) for what I used listen and learn, remember here I am the Jedi and you are but a Padawan in the beer can chicken arts.  I used River Towne Hala Kahiki Pineapple Ale, Old Speckled Hen, 6 Point Sweet Action, and Acardia Wit Sun. Not my normal choices for beer, I know. I went in with a different angle when I came up with these, and that was “what can I use to cook with that can be different and be a good vehicle for chicken.” not the normal “what can I buy to pair up with chicken.”  

Now to the what and why portion. I tried and I feel I succeeded in making something different and tasty with these, (which won’t be the only ones I try out either) so here are the recipes and reasoning behind them. First I want to give my cooking techniques for beer can chicken. First and foremost don’t be afraid to get a little dirty. Just be clean and sanitary, it is chicken, and I am not a walking PSA for kitchen sanitation but wash your hands and keep your prep area clean. First you need a chicken somewhere in the 2 ½ to 3 ½ lb. area. Next you are going to want to open the beer and drink/dump (I prefer the first option) and stand up the can and place the chicken wings up and put the chicken over the can like the picture below. 

Now for the grilling part. What I do is an indirect method of sorts, I put the side where the chicken is on a low and the opposite setting on medium high. This helps prevent burning and it helps create a convection like air flow. You also want it on low so the beer in the can gets hot, steaming the inside and imparting flavor but not boiling over and creating a huge mess. Since all gas grills are different with their burner set up (front to back or left to right 2 or 4 burners) you have to plan ahead. If you are using charcoal pile the coals on the opposite side of where you place the chicken. Timing on this is usually in the 45 min. to 1 hour depending on the chicken, grill type etc. you want an internal temp of at least 165 degrees to be sure the chicken is cooked. I highly suggest purchasing a kitchen thermometer they sell them pretty much everywhere now and they can range from 5 pucks to 100 or so if you get certain digital ones. OK now that we got the tech portion done, here are the first 2 of the 4 recipes that I Did.

1.       Rivertowne Hala Kahiki Jerk Beer Can Chicken

This is probably the head scratcher for most of you. I am not a big fruit flavored beer guy at all. The first time I saw this beer from Rivertowne Brewing from Pittsburgh I have to admit it that I was intrigued more from a cooking standpoint than a drinking one. For what it is its not half bad sweet and Pineapple flavors abound, so this is our starting point. Jerk Chicken is traditionally spicy with some fruity/sweet notes, which is where the Pineapple beer fits in nicely. This is the only one of the 4 that I marinated, just because it’s the more traditional way to do Jerk chicken.This recipe is altered from the one on my Facebook page, but is pretty close to it.

Jerk Chicken Marinade

½             Spanish onion rough chop

4              cloves garlic rough chop

3              green onions rough chop

1-2          Habanero or Scotch Bonnet peppers or Jalapeno

1 bunch   fresh thyme and cilantro

1 Tbsp.    Ancho Chili powder       

5 tsp     allspice

½ tsp     cinnamon

¼ tsp     nutmeg

1/2 Cup.  olive oil

1 Tbsp.  brown sugar

¼ Cup    soy sauce

1 Tbsp.  salt

½ Tbsp. black pepper

Juice of 1/2 lime and 1/2 orange

½ of a Rivertowne Hala Kahiki beer

Mix all of the ingredients all together and marinate the whole chicken overnight. Reserve the remaining marinade bring it to a boil (food safety folks it had chicken sitting in it, this will ensure it to be safe) and use it to baste the chicken while it’s grilling.

2.       Romesco  Old Speckled Hen Beer Can Chicken

This was my favorite so far. This uses a Spanish style Romesco sauce, which is a sauce that is made of roasted piquillo peppers, as a wet rub with a traditional malty, nutty English ale as a balance to the tangy rub. The beer also brings out the flavor of the almonds in the sauce. Side note on this one. Old Speckled Hen is a nitro can and has a plastic widget in it, it used to be a floating one but now it’s fixed to the inside bottom of the can (which I didn’t realize at the time) so I had to go against my initial idea and bust out another widget free one.

Romesco Sauce

1 can      roasted piquillo or roasted red peppers drained

½ cup    toasted Almonds or hazelnuts

¼ cup    red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp.  smoked paprika

1 tsp      cayenne pepper

4 cloves                garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

In your food processor put your almonds in first and pulse them until they are almost paste like. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until it’s almost totally smooth. Set up your chicken then slather the bird with the sauce and cook to the above instructions.

So there you have the first Two in my series, I hope you like them as much as I had coming up with them and testing them out. 

Session in the Abyss

 This is not my typical blog, just a warning shot. I am not going to talk about food or pairing it with beer that much in this one. The main reason is that this is more of a ranting than a “normal” post for me, not that I don’t get fired up about something in every post but this is a prolonged one. It’s about everybody’s new hot girl, the session IPA and session beers in general. I am a hop-head, I love hoppy beer, and they make me happy. Not that I don’t love all forms of the magical brewed libation, but these are my sweet spot as most people know by now.

First off we have to define a session beer. More or less it means a beer with lower alcohol (my guess is somewhere between 3% and 4.5% by volume) for the purpose of having more than 1 or 2 in a session of drinking them, hence the name. A good explanation is on Beer Advocate, it gives a history definition of the term. It’s not like there aren’t a bunch of great beers that could be but are not defined as session beers. A good amount of British, American, and Belgian Pale Ales and other categories of beer fall in this range. Some are hoppy and some are not. There are literally thousands of choices that are session-able.

 For years we have been offered IPA’s that are big, bold, and sometimes ridiculous. It seemed like a contest between brewers to see who could come up with the next big hop bomb or the next melding of hop varieties to kick your palate around, not to mention hopping up other styles like black IPAs and Belgian IPAs that are now a sub- genre of sorts to IPA’s in general. So now you are going to tell me that the next thing everyone wants to do is a hoppy, lighter bodied, lower alcohol beer and call it a “session IPA”. The basis of the craft beer movement is and was to not give a flying fuck what advertisers, the general public, and everyone else thinks and make real beer. That idealism seems to be lost on these beers. Think Metallica’s black album.  No more metal up your ass, but an over-produced to fit the general populations taste so we can get more  ”fans”. The sell-out album. Session IPA’s are the sell-out beer. Mass appeal, watered down, still ok but not as good as what they should be. I am not saying they are not well crafted just to get that out there before people start throwing rocks at me. Now I am all for full flavored beers in whatever ABV range they fall in. Good well-crafted beer is good beer, period. This all being said I think that the use and apparent need to define a beer as a “session” beer is absolute bullshit. Also the other notion of the public wants lighter alcohol beers is another bullshit reason. My beef mostly comes with the necessity for a label. I am over all of the buzzwords like session and just slapping IP-fill-in-the-blank to make it a marketable beer. Spare me. So what’s next a Session Imperial Bourbon Barrel India Pale Stout? That would cover all of the buzz words and styles.

 I have tried a bunch of these beers and there are a couple that are really good. I enjoyed Fat Head’s Sunshine Day Dream and Stone Go To but they are not IPA’s in my opinion, they were aggressively hopped pale ales. Which is good.This my opinion and I am not the only that feels this way I am sure of it. I just want good beer without mass marketing ploys, and buzzwords, and all of that other bullshit that has been popping up. To sum it up from a previous point: What I am saying is I want Ride the Lightning not Load or Re-Load.

Spring, Chili Beers, and the Grill

 I decided to take a little time away from writing the last month or so. First, I was in a funk from my Broncos getting absolutely annihilated in the Super Bowl. That coupled with the never ending winter here in Ohio left me a little bare on the inspiration front. I am now refreshed, over THAT game, and looking forward to posting a bunch more now that spring is more or less here. That means for me, more grilling time, and it’s time to get the garden up and running. I am not as enthralled with the beers of summer as some folks are, and they are just starting to slowly be released so we’ll save that for a post in the next month or so, but I have been paying some attention to the pulse of the beer world, and I have been playing around with food in my away time which should't shock anyone at all.So let's dive in.

Right now, there are some trends with beer that have been taking shape over the last year (or a little longer) that seem to have gained popularity among brewers and those of us who drink beers are taking a liking to. Much like a few years ago when the rage “trend” was the bourbon barrel aged blah-blah fill in the blank beer style; we now have a couple right now that I tend to prefer over that. After all beer was originally barrel aged, not necessarily in a craft whiskey cask or a wine barrel but you get the picture. It still is fairly popular and I do enjoy some, but I think that it’s almost a solely marketing tool and it’s been played out to the fullest. Christ, Miller has a bourbon flavored beer.  The trend that I am most interested in, that has got legs currently is the addition of chilies to beer. Sure it’s been around, we have all seen that shit lager with the chili pepper in it, but we are talking about something that has had a little more thought put into it. Contrary to what some may think I like this one. For the record I am not a don’t-put-things- in-my-beer-jerk-ass. The jerk-asses mentioned often pledge their allegiance to The Reinheitsgebot it is the German beer purity law (which has changed a little over time). Look it up for the full details on it but it basically has only a handful of ingredients that are allowed by law to make beer: water, hops, malted barley. You get the picture. I get some of the sentiment for this, putting corn or rice as the main grain on the bill to cheapen it, but other things can be done to beer that can be experimental and interesting. So up hold the “law” and miss out. Your ignorance and unwillingness to try new stuff means more for the rest of the sane people on the planet. Rant is over, let’s continue.

It seems that Ancho Chilies are the popular choice as far as what chilies are being used, which makes sense. They are ripened and dried poblano chilies that have a smoky, spicy, fruity flavor. They hit 3 distinct flavor notes which add 3 elements to a beer. I am assuming this is why it’s a great addition to a beer. 3 distinctive notes as opposed to one. This brings me to the next part, as a chef what can I do with this? What can I pair it up with? There are quite a few ways to go beyond the obvious Latin cuisines that the chili is used in. That brings us to the grill. These go great with grilled meats and poultry, I wouldn’t go the seafood route as they may be a little heavy for that; unless you want to experiment with some in a ceviche, or you could use it with a heavy oily fish like salmon or mackerel but I don’t think they are the best flavor combos for that but it could be worth a try. I am going to go out on a limb and say that pork would be the best vehicle to use one of these beers for part of a marinade. The other thing to look at will be what the original beer style is, Ommegang’s Fire and Blood is a Belgian style so it’s going to have different flavors than say the Rogue Farms Chipotle which is an amber with Chipotle. Most will work but weird things happen. As I said earlier my gears get turning when I see or try a beer about pairings and cooking, so I will be experimenting in the coming weeks with this and I will post any and all victories or failures on my Facebook page along with a recipe when we get one that is good. There will be a bunch more content upcoming including some  things I have wanted to try, and have been working on for a while that just aren't quite ready, and as always I'll be trying and seeking out beers and letting you know my feelings.  Also I will be doing something that I have wanted to test out for a while and that is a series of beer can chicken experiments, that will be this summer and it should be pretty cool if you like to grill and experiment, we'll do them together and at worst have chicken and beers!

Super Bowl party time!

 As many of you know I am probably one of the biggest pro football fans on the planet. So this week is the week of the 48^th annual Championship Game of the National Football League (I will not call it the “big game”) or The Super Bowl.

There I said the taboo name for the game, we can now move on. Being a hardcore fan, to me, this is the Christmas, New Year’s Eve, (name your favorite holiday) of my year. 90% of it is the game, but I love the party portion of it as well. Seeing that my Denver Broncos are in it this year it’s even more special to me (I like the Broncos to win 27-20 so if you read this after the game you can laugh or be impressed).  Food and beer take the center stage at almost every party, so why would you even contemplate drinking the official shit beer of the Super Bowl and serve the officially sponsored premade crap food for it? It’s a holiday, and it’s a party would you give people crappy pizza and reheated wings from a chain for a dinner party? Hell No. So why do it for the Super Bowl? So where do we go with the food you may ask?? Make it yourself. Homemade is the way to go, and if you are inept in the kitchen go to LOCAL restaurants, delis, or BBQ joints, to get your eats. I am going to help you out with a couple of Ideas here for the party as a whole.

First thing I do is figure out the beer, big shocker I know. All of the party type food for this event goes great with beer, and all types of it. Since I am a big cheese ball, I like to get beers from the cities or states of the teams in the game. So this current version is Denver and Seattle. Great year to give this a try. There are a ton of breweries from these 2 cities.  Here are a few that are readily available in most areas. Denver/Colorado (Coors and Blue Moon are not craft beers so don’t go there) has Oskar Blues, New Belgium, Great Divide to name a couple, Seattle/Washington you have Pyramid, Elysian, Red Hook there are a ton more in these cities and states. When your guests choose a beer they also are making a choice for the game as well. Like I said cheesy but fun. If that’s too cheesy get some local brews for the game or a couple growlers just none of that crap they are advertising during the game. Now for the food.

 Menu wise minus the chips and dips and whatever snack foods that you pick there are a lot of choices. In the cold weather nothing beats some good chili in my book. I am not going to throw a recipe out there mostly  because everyone has one, whether it’s a traditional beef, or a turkey, or a vegetarian, they always work just have some stuff to throw on it like cheese or sour cream and other fun stuff. Let’s focus on another big part of this game’s food the sandwich. Time to go big or go home! I like to do it different as well. There are about a thousand different ways to go here. Like Peyton Manning I am calling an audible at the line. Instead of a standard big cold cut sandwich try something like a Banh Mi or a giant Cuban sandwich. If you don’t cook or don’t want to, get some pulled pork or BBQ beef from a local BBQ joint, a loaf of good French bread some cheddar and make a giant BBQ sandwich. As for the other two I mentioned let’s go over construction.

The Banh Mi is a tasty and not so well known sandwich from Vietnam. For this you will need to do a little prep. I like doing a grilled chicken one but you can do it with pork or even with tofu or tempeh if you don’t eat meat. Since I am carnivorous let’s do the chicken one. Once again we are making this a big sandwich, so get a loaf of good French bread to start. You are going to need a pound of boneless chicken thighs that need to be marinated for a couple of hours or overnight. Recipe will be below. Now traditionally there are pickled carrots and Daikon radish, but I construct a simple slaw of sorts with carrots, red bell peppers, and some Napa cabbage. So the chicken is ready to go, guess what we are firing up the grill. Outside. In February. Why fear the cold and snow? Just because it’s not sunny and 75 doesn’t mean you need to stop grilling. So to the construction of this masterpiece. This is all about the layers. Cut the French bread so it’s opened up. This calls for a mayo but put it on the side, some people hate it, some bathe in it, so leave it up to them. First cut up the thighs and lay them down. Next a layer of sliced cucumbers, then your slaw, then some fresh cilantro and some sliced Jalapeños for some heat. Fold the bread up and cut it into chunks, however big or small you want to.

Banh Mi Marinade                                                                          Carrot slaw

¼ cup soy sauce                                                                                1 carrot julienned

½ of a lime juiced                                                             1 red pepper julienned

¼ cup cider vinegar                                                         1 green onion

2 cloves of garlic                                                               1 Cup of shredded cabbage

1 tablespoon of 5 spice blend                                     1 tablespoon of sugar

Salt and pepper to taste                                                               ¼ cup rice wine vinegar

                                                                                                Salt and pepper to taste

 Next we do the classic Cuban with a craft beer twist. We need the oven for this one. Set it to 375. French bread is your base again. Cut the bread in half like we did before so you can open it up. You will need roughly about a pound to a pound and a half of a good ham sliced thin. Lay it out on the bread on BOTH sides then we are going to put a layer of sliced pickles. Kosher deli style ones work best. Then a good layer of Swiss cheese. Put the whole thing in the oven and bake it until the cheese is melty. Normally this sandwich is pressed but since it’s a big sandwich we’ll skip that part. Take it out and fold it together. Wait, you are saying you forgot the mustard? Nope. Here’s the twist we are doing a whole grain IPA mustard for it. You can put this in the sandwich after the toasting or put it on the side if there are mustard haters around.  Recipe is as follows:

 IPA MUSTARD

1 jar of Whole grain mustard

3 garlic cloves roasted and chopped

¼ cup of Stone Ruination or other Imperial/double IPA

So there are a few ideas for your Super Bowl party, have a good time enjoy the game, the food, the commercials, and most importantly GO BRONCOS!!!!!!

A Little Ranting to Start Off the Year

Since we are in the New Year, I guess it’s time to do a synopsis of the year in beer, or a resolution. For one I am not one to make a resolution for the New Year. Not a freaking chance in hell of that of that. I am not going to a gym, eat kale and eat some horken fiber grain mix to make my diet healthy, just to throw it out the first chance I get to have a beer and some bar food with my friends. We are adults, you should be able to figure that kind of thing out without pledging something dopey. I wake up daily trying to be better at who I am and what I do, I don’t need to create a device to do this. I am not going to go over last year either. It’s the past, there were some great beers made and we loved them, I am personally more excited about the year ahead. One thing I will leave you with is a quote from Greg Koch the brilliant, arrogant in a good way, leader of Stone Brewery said.

 It is something that I personally back 100% and will start implementing daily in my conversations and writings about beer.Sorry if I disappointed everyone by not contributing to the normal year-end/new year bullshit. It’s not my thing.

 As I am writing this we are having the Polar Vortex pay a visit here in the Great Lakes (or as I like to call it winter), I am just hanging around the estate in lovely, frozen Lakewood, Ohio. I was thinking that this time of year, the post-holiday pre-spring release time of year is the most underrated time of year for beers. I love the fact that most if not every brewery/brewer goes out on a limb more and more, and create crazy one-off brews during the year. This time of year is great for that. I am a fan of the beers that get right up in your face with flavors and styles that are not the norm and out of your comfort zone.
 If you want to get me out of my beer comfort zone, one way is to give me a barley wine, You know the beers that start appearing this time of year that are usually named “Old” something or other. I am not a huge fan of this style. To me it’s just a way to brew a huge beer for the sake of it being big. They are for the most part cloyingly sweet and very boozy. Most hit around 10% ABV(Alcohol By Volume) on the bottom end and I have seen some that are upwards of 14-15% if not more (although not in my current state of Ohio which has ancient, absurd ABV laws for beer set at 12% - this is a rant for another day). A great deal of them do have a hoppy finish and I do like that. I am leery of the sweet-not-stout/Baltic porter which work for me, I am not saying that barley wines are bad beers at all. They just don’t hit the right notes for me. The high ABV% isn’t a bad thing but higher alcohol beers for the most part tend to have that burn on the back end. Which can make a beer great, or ruin it for me. Contrary to what some folks believe higher ABV doesn’t equal better beer. This is where I take a little side trip.

Let’s talk ABV, or more importantly, the “I only drink beer that has 9% alcohol or higher” guy. I know some of you are reading this, too. Well I am about to piss you off. I find this attitude to be one of, if not the most annoying, stupid, and outright fucked up ones out there. Don’t give me it’s your preference, that’s all BS. If it was just a preference you wouldn’t be hammering anyone for drinking, or brewing good beer with lower alcohol levels. You are not an Elitist; but more or less a drunk. All this says to me is that you want something to get you fucking hammered quickly rather than revel in and enjoy great beer. You are no different than the hobo drinking a Lazer malt liquor out of a paper bag to get trashed. No I am not putting high ABV beers in the level of Lazer so back up, I am putting the dopes I mentioned above there. If you have a problem with that fire away, not going to change my mind on this. Anyway that red-faced rant is now over, so back to barley wines. I do have a couple that I have had in the past. I am a big fan of Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot. It is big, bold, has a dried fruit-like sweetness that is evened out by a good resiny, piney hop finish. I also like Victory Old Horizontal; it’s not as hoppy as Bigfoot but it carries a lot of similar flavors. This is just one of many types of different beers you see this time of year.
 I encourage everyone to follow your favorite breweries on the various social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, for example) we have right now. They will for the most part give information on releases and other info so you can see what weirdness they are planning. I can go on and on about what else is available right now but hit social media and there’s a good amount of info to be had. Now go out there and get out of your comfort zone find some different beers and have some fun!